Hello all

Following the shameless plug a while back for mine and Geoff's band, here is an equally shameless reminder:

The Beatnik Filmstars will be playing their only gig of 2008 next Saturday 22nd November at the Cube Cinema to promote their new long player 'The Purple Fez 72 Club Social', which has been getting a fair bit of play on BBC Radio 6 and some very positive reviews. Here's what the nice people at Americana UK had to say about the album:

"They’ve only gone and recorded a lo-fi Americana album! Beatnik Filmstars have been around since the early 90s. For the most part they have been peddling lo-fi indie rock that has served them well over several albums and five (count ‘em) Peel sessions. Perhaps it is the fact that they are getting a bit old and grizzled, or perhaps it is because they just got bored, but the Beatniks have gone all Americana on our asses on this, their new release.

Recorded without using studios or computers, "The Purple Fez 72 Club Social" is an interesting album full to bursting with well written songs and lyrical quirks. Opener, "Animal Crackers" opens with the line ‘...There are racists in the USA who brand swastikas on their cattle...’ setting the lyrical bar high from the off. From here on the band effortlessly take us through indie-Americana ("Scrabbling") and dusty tex-mex landscapes ("25 miles, Long Road") without even breaking into a sweat.

"The Purple Fez….." is the sound of a band breaking free of their shackles, and playing music for the sheer joy of it, making the album a pleasure to listen to. It is probable that the band are too lo-fi, British and interesting to make huge strides into the Americana scene but for those that pick up on them, they will remain a hidden treasure to savour.

Americana UK album rating = 7 out of 10."